2 kittens rescued from hot car at Long Island train station

RONKONKOMA, Long Island (WABC) -- A woman is facing charges after police say she left two young kittens inside a hot car at a train station on Long Island.

MTA police discovered two 8-week-old kittens locked inside a car at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Ronkonkoma train station. The temperature outside at the time was 81 degrees.

It is believed the kittens were left alone in the car from 2 a.m. until they were rescued just after 9 a.m. and taken to Brookhaven Animal Shelter.

Kimberly McKinley, 23, was charged by Suffolk County SPCA detectives with confinement of companion animals in a vehicle in extreme temperatures.

She is scheduled to appear in court in Central Islip in September.

The SPCA wants to remind people that leaving animals in hot cars can lead to tragedy. They say animals have a hard time staying cool and leaving them in a hot car makes them extremely vulnerable to heatstroke or death.

RELATED: 7-Day AccuWeather Forecast

HEAT WAVE ALERT: Resources to help you cope with the heat

BEATING THE HEAT

Why it's harder to cool off in humidity

How hot summer weather affects your car

What does 'dog days of summer' really mean?

We baked cookies inside a parked car just to prove how hot the inside of a car really is

Heat hypothesis: The link between summer weather and aggressive behavior